The Anna Meares Story is all about the grit and determination of a young woman who overcame major life-threatening trauma to realise what she had barely been able to dream about. Olympic track cyclist Anna experienced a career-stopping heavy fall during a time trial at the World Cup in Los Angeles in January 2008, less than eight months out from the Beijing Olympic Games. Falling on the hard, wooden velodrome floor at a speed of 65 kilometres an hour, she suffered a fractured neck, and a dislocated shoulder, torn ligaments. She was millimetres away from permanent injury. In this updated edition of Anna's story, read how, in March 2011, the Australian Cycling Team, spearheaded by Anna, enjoyed a record breaking week at Apeldoom in The Netherlands, powering to eight gold medals, three belonging to Anna! Finally, at the 2012 London Olympics, Anna took on her arch rival, Victoria Pendleton, to win gold.

The Golden Girl of British cycling opens up, for the first time, in searingly honest detail about what drives her to compete in a sport she no longer loves. Written with Donald McRae, 2 time winner of the William Hill Award, “Between the Lines” is THE Olympic autobiography.

In 'Power of the Pedal', read about cycling in Australia from the penny farthing to 21st-century commuters and Olympic stars. Bicycles changed our lives! They meant a new and faster way to get around and gave rise to ways of exploring, socialising and competing. In the nineteenth century cycling encouraged 'overlanders', adventurers who explored new routes through rugged terrain; cycling clubs that gave women a new kind of freedom to mix socially with men: and novel kinds of racing. In this book, cycling journalist Rupert Guinness reveals 200 years of the bike in Australian everyday life and the world of competition.

From 2004 to 2016, Anna Meares was one of Australia's greatest and most popular Olympians, a winner of two gold medals and medals at four Olympics. She overcame a broken neck to win silver at the 2008 Beijing Games. She is an inspiration not just because of her sporting achievements, but for way she answered the potentially debilitating question faced by all retiring athletes: What happens now? Anna confronted personal crises, including the death of her coach from motor neurone disease and a marriage breakup, and learned plenty as she first stumbled but now strides down a bright path. She has a new career, is happy in her personal life and is the mother of a baby daughter. Her sporting life is only part of this story. Her recent wins have added a new dimension to what has been a remarkable life.

Would Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson have ever crossed the Blue Mountains without the help of the local Aboriginal people? The invaluable role of local guides in this event is rarely recognised. As silent partners, Aboriginal Australians gave Europeans their first views of iconic animals, such as the Koala and Superb Lyrebird, and helped to unravel the mystery of the egg-laying mammals: the Echidna and Platypus. Well into the twentieth century, Indigenous people were routinely engaged by collectors, illustrators and others with an interest in Australia's animals. Yet this participation, if admitted at all, was generally barely acknowledged. However, when documented, it was clearly significant. Penny Olsen and Lynette Russell have gathered together Aboriginal peoples' contributions to demonstrate the crucial role they played in early Australian zoology. The writings of the early European naturalists clearly describe the valuable knowledge of the Indigenous people of the habits of Australia's bizarre (to a European) fauna. 'Australia's First Naturalists' is invaluable for those wanting to learn more about our original inhabitants' contribution to the collection, recognition and classification of Australia's unique fauna. It heightens our appreciation of the previously unrecognised complex knowledge of Indigenous societies.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE • Look for special features inside. Join the Random House Reader’s Circle for author chats and more. In boyhood, Louis Zamperini was an incorrigible delinquent. As a teenager, he channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics. But when World War II began, the athlete became an airman, embarking on a journey that led to a doomed flight on a May afternoon in 1943. When his Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean, against all odds, Zamperini survived, adrift on a foundering life raft. Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater. Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor; brutality with rebellion. His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will. Appearing in paperback for the first time—with twenty arresting new photos and an extensive Q&A with the author—Unbroken is an unforgettable testament to the resilience of the human mind, body, and spirit, brought vividly to life by Seabiscuit author Laura Hillenbrand. Hailed as the top nonfiction book of the year by Time magazine • Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for biography and the Indies Choice Adult Nonfiction Book of the Year award “Extraordinarily moving . . . a powerfully drawn survival epic.”—The Wall Street Journal “[A] one-in-a-billion story . . . designed to wrench from self-respecting critics all the blurby adjectives we normally try to avoid: It is amazing, unforgettable, gripping, harrowing, chilling, and inspiring.”—New York “Staggering . . . mesmerizing . . . Hillenbrand’s writing is so ferociously cinematic, the events she describes so incredible, you don’t dare take your eyes off the page.”—People “A meticulous, soaring and beautifully written account of an extraordinary life.”—The Washington Post “Ambitious and powerful . . . a startling narrative and an inspirational book.”—The New York Times Book Review “Magnificent . . . incredible . . . [Hillenbrand] has crafted another masterful blend of sports, history and overcoming terrific odds; this is biography taken to the nth degree, a chronicle of a remarkable life lived through extraordinary times.”—The Dallas Morning News “An astonishing testament to the superhuman power of tenacity.”—Entertainment Weekly “A tale of triumph and redemption . . . astonishingly detailed.”—O: The Oprah Magazine “[A] masterfully told true story . . . nothing less than a marvel.”—Washingtonian “[Hillenbrand tells this] story with cool elegance but at a thrilling sprinter’s pace.”—Time “Hillenbrand [is] one of our best writers of narrative history. You don’t have to be a sports fan or a war-history buff to devour this book—you just have to love great storytelling.”—Rebecca Skloot, author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

From AFL, rugby union and cricket to aerial skiing, equestrian sports and speed-skating, Australian sport has produced some of the toughest nuts around. They are the people who played on through injury or overcame potentially catastrophic setbacks to inspire a sports-loving nation. Through a series of revealing interviews, author Mick Colliss explores the extraordinary character of these outstanding athletes, and reveals the mental and physical fortitude it took for them to carry on when the rest of us would have been carried off

The celebrated white with a Red V jumper that features on the cover of this book and is worn today by St George Illawarra in the NRL is the No. 1 brand across all Australian football codes. The Red V fanbase is the biggest and most passionate in rugby league. 'There is something special at St George, a fellowship, a friendship,' Reg Gasnier once said. Gasnier is a Dragons Immortal, synonymous with class, greatness and the Spirit of the Red V. St George made their premiership debut on St George's Day, 23 April 1921. The club merged with the Illawarra Steelers in 1999 to become the St George Illawarra Dragons. They celebrate their centenary in 2021. During the first 100 years, the Dragons built a reputation for excellence, especially from 1956 to 1966 when teams featuring names such as Gasnier, Provan, Raper and Langlands won 11 straight premierships.Spirit of the Red V (Volume I) is fully endorsed by the St George club, and is the major publishing event of their centenary season. The book explains why the club was not formed in 1908, the game's foundation year. It recalls their early struggles, and how Frank Burge, another League Immortal, arrived in 1927 to build a winning Dragons culture. This revolution brought years of much success and then the 11 premierships, with more glory days to follow. There are countless heroes, a little sadness, and many famous and controversial games, sometimes on fields of mud, always watched by huge crowds.

Neil Cummins grew up in Liverpool, England in an environment of hard knocks, bikies and the underworld surrounding his fathers businesses as a nightclub owner.Neil Cummins grew up in Liverpool, England in an environment of hard knocks, bikies and the underworld surrounding his fathers businesses as a nightclub owner. There came a time when Neil who adored his father started to realise the shady and seedy world of nightclubs and the business associates he looked up to as child were some of the worst and most dangerous criminals in the UK and some involved in drug importing, bikie gangs, robberies, murder and other major crimes . This story follows a young adult man of 19 who moves to Australia with his mother and slowly starts to follow in his fathers life of the underworld and becomes the head doorman and bodyguard to one of Australias most colourful characters, John Ibrahim the owner of some of Sydneys most popular nightclubs, the character based on the Underbelly series, The Golden Mile. Its not long before Neil becomes a close and trusted associate of the Ibrahim family. Becoming Johns number one security guy he was better known as The Muscle. This biography tells the story of a young boy who grew up adoring his father, and how his life on the other side of the world followed in his fathers footsteps as an adult working and socialising with some of the most dangerous criminals in the underworld. From a world of drugs, nightclubs, celebrities, fancy cars, to money and power, bikie gangs and stand over men, hits on peoples lives to drive by shootings , Neils story is a tell all insight to how he lived it and survived it to walk away and live a normal life. Neil discusses what he sees as the number one security man for John Ibrahim and some of the high profile clients who frequented the nightclub scene. His very public marriage and divorce to Tiffani Wood band member of the popular singing group Bardot and now his public child custody battle. The hit he put on his own life, to the stand over tactics that were part of his job, to keeping on the right side of high profile celebrities who frequented the party scene and wanted a supply of drugs, to bikies gangs, shootings, police investigations and much more. This raw and honest story will be a great read for those who love true crime, and the love between a father and son and their survival in a dangerous and seedy underworld.